Saturday, December 21, 2019
Breakfast at home with Patrick: for each: one egg over easy, one half of a sausage link, one hash brown with ketchup, one biscuit with butter. Set up a Sodastream Fizzi One Touch (but the sticker on it says Spirit One Touch). It was a disaster because the instructions that come with it are only pictorial and very hard to decipher. I had watched someone's video on YouTube and proceeded. The cap removal process was confusing because in Sodastream's instructions the metal ring underneath the plastic white cap changes color from gold to silver. (Were we supposed to remove the gold metal part? Answer = no, just the white plastic cap.) Upon beginning the carbonation process, the water overflowed the bottle and about one third of the water came out of the bottle and onto our cabinet and floor. The paper instructions don't make it clear that you need to push up while you lean the bottle into the machine. Pushing up causes a seal to be made. We spent a while cleaning the mess and drying the cabinet bottom, which required moving the cabinet out and letting it rest on an old towel. We tried again more carefully with the Sodastream in the sink and succeeded. Patrick tasted and was satisfied for the moment. (Later today he said he could identify an aftertaste, so he plans to try boiling and cooling the tap water before carbonating it. My suggestion was to use Brita to filter it or to try distilled water or to try adding a squeeze of lemon or lime or both.) Walked and rode Muni to Forest Hill Station. Met the Honmas for brunch at Chou Chou. Akemi and Kiana shared beef bourguinon. Lani and I also shared a salmon crepe a la carte. Rob had the prix fixe three-course menu: salad appetizer, for the entree he chose the lamb crepe and this was accompanied by fries (which were forgotten and which arrived late after we asked), and chocolate mousse for dessert. Jeremy had a salmon crepe a la carte. Matthew had a burger, plain, medium with french fries. Most everyone had at least a bite of Rob's dessert. They brought for me a gift bag of candied lychee, coconut syrup, both sent from Bev, and a small box of homemade Chex mix that the kids had made. We leisurely chatted and ate for almost two hours. Afterwards they hurried to drop Lani, Akemi, and Kiana at SF Ballet for The Nutcracker. I returned home. Cleaned mold from the entryway with water mixed with Borax. Napped. Dinner at home with Patrick: delivery from Perilla on Irving Street via an order on Perilla's website (which was really secretly Grubhub): pho ga for Patrick, brisket pho for me, spring rolls with peanut sauce and spicy sauce on the side to share. To drink: sparkling water for Patrick, hot water for me.